St Clair Cemetery, Mt Lebanon, Allegheny Co, PA

Monday, January 15, 2007

The weather forecast is grim. Watch for the possibility of severe weather. How many times have we heard that to find a gentle rain follows? Then again, how many times has it been true? Just like genealogy research.....

I had been in a severe drought when it came to finding more information on the family from the late 1700s. I had faithfully planted my seeds of inquiry months, sometimes years ago. Then all of a sudden, there was a whirlwind of activity. Not unlike the rapid development of the recent violent weather in our area. The wind was blowing, and this time, it uncovered another line for me.

I had placed an inquiry on a site used by many other faithful genealogy information seekers about two years ago. The announcement finally came. There was a response waiting for me. My heart thumping, I read the response. There she was. Another daughter of my 4g grandfather has a descendant who is interested in the family. We exchanged emails, verified that each of us was indeed searching the correct family, and talked. She had photos and letters to send me. There was even a letter from the 1880s. I, in turn, had documentation for her. What a joyful reunion of the family 200 years later.

Another story of a time when the whirlwinds died down. I placed an inquiry recently in Ohio for information on a sibling of one of my 4g grandmothers. My hope is I would find a descendant who knew something of her. Her father died in 1795 leaving a widow and eight children. Thanks to the orphan's court records, I have documented who her siblings were. Now to find them. I found a man named Jesse Matthews in OH who indeed had been born in PA during the right time frame of 1781-1794. I now have his son's names. Unfortunately, at this time, it appears I am the only one searching for him. If and when I locate his family, I still don't know if they will have any information on his parents or siblings. My next step is to try and follow the land. The father had 300 acres of land in Pittsburgh when he died. I will have to find someone to go to the courthouse for me and look at land deeds for that particular parcel. Sometimes, the land is deeded to grandchildren. Sometimes, it is sold. Perhaps in time, I will resurrect this particular information storm.

Genealogy takes time. The research times dedication. Be patient. Plant your seeds and wait. Perhaps the whirlwind of new family information will blow across your radar. When it does, follow the leads. Check the land records. Find descendants of the siblings your early family had. You may be pleasantly surprised. And until then, may you have a gentle rain of information falling into your family tree.